Chapter 11 - the memory card
The memory card contained one video.
No encryption.
Claire again.
But this recording was newer than the first.
Her scar was visible.
Her hair was short.
It had been recorded after Northbridge.
Ethan's hands trembled as he pressed play.
Claire sat in an unknown room.
A bare wall behind her.
She looked healthier than in the photograph but frightened.
"If you're watching this, then someone found the ledger."
She smiled faintly.
"Ethan, you always hated puzzles, so I'm sorry."
Despite everything, Ethan almost laughed.
Claire continued.
"The ledger is bait."
Daniel frowned.
"Bait for who?"
The video answered.
"Anyone connected to Adrian Vale will believe the ledger contains the list of surviving research subjects."
Rebecca leaned closer.
Claire said, "It doesn't."
Ethan looked at the black book.
"The codes are financial transfers. The real list is somewhere else."
Claire's expression became more serious.
"But the ledger does identify the person who funded the identity theft operation."
She held up one page.
"The initials repeat because they are not patient codes."
MC.
Ethan looked at Maisie.
He had assumed Maisie Carter.
Claire continued.
"MC means Mercer Capital."
Daniel stood abruptly.
Ethan turned.
"What?"
Daniel's face had gone pale.
Mercer Capital was one of the largest private investment firms in the state.
Its founder, Arthur Mercer, was a billionaire philanthropist.
More importantly, Mercer Capital was Daniel's biggest client.
Ethan looked at his brother.
"You knew."
"No."
"Your firm represents them."
"Tax work. Corporate structure. That's all."
Claire continued on screen.
"Mercer Capital financed Halcyon through four shell companies."
Daniel stared at the video.
Claire's eyes seemed almost to look through him.
"Daniel, if you're watching this, you were selected because of Ethan."
Daniel whispered, "What?"
"You didn't find Adrian Vale. Adrian Vale found you."
Daniel sat down hard.
Claire continued.
"They needed someone Ethan would trust."
Ethan watched his brother collapse inward.
For seventeen months, Daniel had believed he had saved Claire.
Instead, he had delivered her directly into a controlled facility.
Claire's voice softened.
"I don't blame you."
Daniel covered his face.
"The person you met was probably one of several handlers using the Adrian identity."
Then Claire leaned closer to the camera.
"The important part is this. Arthur Mercer did not start the program."
Ethan frowned.
"Then who did?"
"He inherited it."
Claire glanced toward the door.
"And now he wants out."
The video ended.
Rebecca whispered, "Mercer wants out?"
Daniel looked at the ledger.
"That might explain why Halcyon is desperate."
Ethan asked, "If Mercer financed them, why would they operate against him?"
"Because organizations like that eventually stop serving the people who built them," Rebecca said.
Daniel's phone buzzed.
Location.
An abandoned pharmaceutical warehouse forty minutes away.
Midnight.
Bring the ledger.
Ethan checked the time.
10:18 PM.
Rebecca said, "We make a copy."
Daniel shook his head.
"They may check."
Ethan held up the ledger.
"It is bait."
"So?"
"So let's use it."
Daniel looked at him.
"What are you thinking?"
Ethan glanced toward Maisie.
The child was asleep upstairs.
His priorities had changed.
He did not care about revenge.
He did not care about exposing every criminal tonight.
He cared about three things.
Keeping Maisie safe.
Finding Claire.
Getting Corinne out alive long enough to answer for what she had done.
"We give them exactly what they want."
Rebecca frowned.
"The ledger?"
"Yes."
Daniel understood first.
"And track it."
Ethan nodded.
Daniel opened his security case and removed a tiny GPS transmitter used for high value document shipments.
They inserted it beneath the damaged spine.
At 11:38, Ethan drove toward the warehouse alone.
At least, that was what anyone watching would believe.
Daniel and Rebecca followed at a distance.
Ethan parked beside the warehouse.
The door stood open.
He entered carrying the ledger.
Corinne sat in the center of the room.
One man stood beside her.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
About sixty.
Ethan stopped.
He recognized him immediately.
Arthur Mercer.
The billionaire smiled sadly.
"Mr. Carter."
Ethan stared.
"You kidnapped my wife?"
Mercer looked toward Corinne.
"No."
Corinne stood.
"Nobody kidnapped me."
Ethan's confusion became anger.
"What is this?"
Corinne stepped forward.
"I'm sorry."
Mercer held out his hand.
"The ledger, please."
Ethan did not move.
"You threatened Claire."
Mercer's face tightened.
"I protected Claire."
"From your own company?"
"Halcyon stopped being mine years ago."
"Then who runs it?"
Mercer looked toward the dark upper windows of the warehouse.
"That is why you needed to bring the ledger."
Ethan heard an engine outside.
Then another.
Mercer's face changed.
"They followed you."
Ethan looked toward the entrance.
"No."
Mercer whispered, "Not you."
He looked at Corinne.
May you like
"They followed her."
The warehouse lights suddenly went out.
